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Score: Kent State (25-13, 24-26, 13-25, 20-25)
Location: Athens, Ohio (Convocation Center)
Record: Ohio 20-6 (10-3 MAC), Kent State 16-9 (10-3 MAC)
Short Story: The Ohio volleyball team (20-6, 10-3 MAC) dropped a 3-1 (25-13, 24-26, 13-25, 20-25) decision to Mid-American Conference East Division rival Kent State (16-9, 10-3 MAC) on Thursday (Nov. 5) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

THE BASICS
• Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) led the Bobcats with 11 kills and added an assisted block and two digs.
• Senior middle blocker Karin Bull (Bloomington, Minn.) added nine kills and three total blocks (one solo, two assisted) to tie for the team lead for Ohio.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) recorded nine kills for the Bobcats.
• Sophomore outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) added eight kills, tied for the team lead with three assisted blocks and chipped in two digs for Ohio.
• Senior setter Abby Gilleland (Bull Valley, Ill.) achieved a double-double with a match-high 46 assists to go along with 17 digs for the Bobcats. She also added three kills and a service ace.
• Senior libero Meredith Ashy (Louisville, Ky.) recorded a team-high 21 digs for Ohio and added a service ace and an assist.
• Senior outside hitter/libero Mallory Salis (Oak Lawn, Ill.) compiled 13 digs to go along with six kills and an assist for the Bobcats
• Freshman libero Erica Walker (Wheaton, Ill.) racked up 11 digs and two assists for Ohio.
• Junior setter/defensive specialist Brooke Coleman (Plano, Texas) posted 10 digs for the Bobcats.
• Senior opposite hitter Kelly Hutchison led Kent State with a match-high 15 kills to go along with five total blocks (one solo, four assisted) and six digs.
• Junior middle blocker Drew Norberg added 13 kills and two assisted blocks for the Golden Flashes.
• Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger posted a double-double for Kent State, tallying 11 kills and 14 digs to go along with three assisted blocks and an assist.
• Senior middle blocker/right side hitter Bridget Wilhelm put together a big night for the Golden Flashes with nine kills and six total blocks (one solo, five assisted) in addition to three digs and two assists.
• Junior setter Katarina Kojic compiled 39 assists to lead Kent State. She also added two kills, a service ace, two assisted blocks and eight digs. 
• Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Challen Geraghty racked up a match-high 39 digs to along with a service ace and two assists.
• Senior defensive specialist/libero Sarah Mills added 16 digs for Kent State.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio dominated the opening set, hitting .333 (13 kills-four errors-27 total attacks) while limiting Kent State to a -.133 attack percentage (five kills-nine errors-30 total attacks) en route to a 12-point set victory. Walker paced the Bobcat attack with five kills while Lake added three.
• Kent State responded to Ohio's challenge in the second set. Two kills by Bull and kills by Salis, Shelby Walker and redshirt freshman middle blocker Katie Nelson (Regina, Saskatechwan) helped the Bobcats stay step-for-step with Kent State and keep the score even at eight-all. The Golden Flashes retaliated with an 8-4 run to take a 16-12 lead and force Ohio to burn a timeout. The Bobcats then put together a 4-1 run to cut Kent State's advantage down to one at 17-16. The stretch was highlighted by kills by Kosiorek and Shelby Walker. Ohio then scored eight of the next 13 points to get to set point at 24-22, with a service ace and a kill by Gilleland helping to put the Bobcats on the brink of a 2-0 match lead. Unfortately for the Bobcats, Kent State rallied with kills by Hutchison and Wilhelm and back-to-back attack errors by Ohio allowing the Golden Flashes to win the set and even the match.
• Kent State carried the momentum into the third set and rolled to a 12-point win to take a 2-1 match lead. Hutchisona and Bittinger each tallied five of their kills in the third set.
• The Golden Flashes raced ahead to a 19-10 lead in the fourth set. Ohio shaved Kent State's lead down to five at 19-14 thanks to two kills by Salis and another by Nelson, forcing the Flashes to call timeout. Kent State built its lead up to 22-17 with two kills by Norberg and another by Hutchison, and Ohio burned a timeout. Back-to-back Kent State attack errors and a kill by Kosiorek cut Kent State's lead down to 22-20, but a kill by Bittinger, a serivce ace by Geraghty and an Ohio attack error ended the match.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio suffered a home conference loss for the first time since falling to Ball State, 3-2, on Oct. 19, 2013. The Bobcats fell to the Golden Flashes at home for the first time since a 3-2 setback on Sept. 21, 2001.
• Shelby Walker recorded double-digit kills for the second-straight match, fifth time in the last seven matches, ninth time this season and 10th time in her career.
• Gilleland posted her third-straight double-double, 14th of the year and 39th of her career. She recorded double-digit assists for the 26th time this season and 118th time in her career while posting double-digit digs for the 16th time this year and 44th time in her career.
• Ashy has achieved double-digit digs 22 times in 2015 and has finished with 20 or more 12 times. She has notched double-digit digs 106 times in her career -- including 20 or more 44 times. Her 21 digs against Kent State allowed her to become Ohio's all-time leader in the rally scoring era with 2,092 for her career. She surpassed the 2,091 compiled by Michaele Blackburn (2003-06).
• Salis notched double-digit digs for the third-straight match, 14th time this season and 30th time in her career.
• Erica Walker posted double-digit digs for the seventh time in her rookie campaign.
• Coleman posted double-digit digs for the first time this year and 27th time in her career.

WHAT'S NEXT
Ohio looks to bounce back on Saturday (Nov. 7) as it hosts MAC West Division foe Central Michigan in a 7 p.m. ET contest at the Convocation Center. Saturday's match celebrates Dad's Weekend with a pregame student tailgate and a postgame autograph session. The match will also serve as Camp Reunion Night.

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